Now Or Never
by Astridthecrafty
Summary: Brains and Moffie geeky fluff


Pentaquarks … what if we … oh that is brilliant … but the results show…

…

…

…

*THUNK* *PAIN* "WHA' THE?"

"Alan! Are you okay?" Brains voice filtered through the waking fuzz and the pain that was the result from Alan's forehead hitting the table of the living quarters when he dozed off while not listening to the science nerds geeking out over the plans for the new Hadron Collider.

"URGH … yeah I'm fine." He shook himself awake "I think I'll just head for some fresh air and leave you two at it for a while. This is all WAY too highbrow for me" and pushing his chair out from the table that was hiding somewhere below piles of blueprints and tablets he made his excuses and wandered off with his awkward not-quite-grown-into-his-noodley-legs gait.

*Scott is going to have a height challenger in a few years. Gordon will be terribly peeved* thought Brains.

The last time Brains and Moffie had been alone together had been many years ago, before International Rescue and all the secrecy that had stemmed from that. He had planned for ages what he was going to say, all scripted, and rehearsed over and over again so he could say how he really felt without stuttering.

She had just been given the post at what would eventually be the Supreme Hadron Collider and all the old Uni friends were having a congratulations party. He'd managed to get her alone in the bathroom and got as far as "I've b-been th-thinking for a wh-while …" and she'd scooped him into a big hug, "I'm going to miss you too Hiram. It's going to be brilliant and so busy, but we'll all keep in contact won't we?"

He'd lost his nerve after that interruption and not long after he'd started working with Mr Tracy and with everything being shielded in secrecy they never managed to keep the promised contact.

And now here he was with that opportunity again.

"Penny for your t'oughts?" her Irish lilt broke through.

*5…4…3…2…1… as they say * He turned to face her straight on and took a deep breath.

"Moffie. I've b-been thinking for a while now and …" *so far so good* "… and …I-I-I … d-d-damn"

"Hiram, what is it, you seem flustered?" he could hear she was concerned, and fractal tables were NOT going to work this time. An idea flickered in his mind.

"Moffie. ", he started again, "There is an experiment I would like to t-try and I wondered if y-you would like to help me?"

"Absolutely, what is it about" she answered with a smile

"O-one moment." He carefully took off her glasses and laid them on the table. "P-please c-close your eyes." She looked a bit confused but did as he requested.

He removed his own glasses and thought *Now or never* and leant forward.

What in his mind would have been the perfect Disney moment was far from it, an awkward nose clash and a slight tooth bump. She didn't seem to respond but at she didn't pull away in disgust so that HAD to be a positive right? Suddenly unsure he stepped back.

"S-s-s-sorry … I shouldn't have… s-sorry." He turned slightly to go and bumped his knee on the chair that he couldn't see clearly, cursed and started to bring his hand up to put his glasses back on. A gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"Can I ask how long you have wanted to try that _experiment_ Hiram?" she said softly

"It d-d-d-doesn't matter" he sighed and glanced briefly over to Moffie … not that he could see her CLEARLY without his glasses on, and knowing how bad her eyesight was he was thankful she would be the same. She wouldn't see the lacrima threatening around his eyes.

"I think I know you a bit better than to believe that. Hiram, please… how long? You know whatever your conclusions were you should maybe run the test again and double check your results."

*Wait a minute … did she just … Ooooooohhhh*

This time the "experiment" went much more smoothly, ending with the light skiff of noses as they parted of two people who don't really want to cease contact.

"Well that was MUCH more positive I think" he smiled resting his forehead on hers (the lack of focus and heat of blood on his cheeks resulting in a pleasant dizziness.) "So where do we go from here?"

"Well…" she said "If you think an experiment has had the desired effect then the next thing would be to ask for a second opinion."

"I think a second opinion would be most helpf…mmmmhhhh" he was pleasantly shocked by her forwardness and quite breathless when she finally pulled away

"I have to agree with your results" she gasped. "I suppose the next thing would be to follow through with the early results and see where the experiment leads"

15 minutes later

Alan charged through the door saying to whoever was behind him "Just give me a second till I let Brains know where I'm off too so he doesn't worry … OH MY, WHAT THE, OH GOD I NEED MIND BLEACH … I … err… see you later… eeeewwww no, hopefully not!" and slammed the door behind him, mouthing a string of expletives that would have resulted in a smack around the ear if any of his family had heard them.


End file.
